Donald J. Bingle December 2020 Newsletter |
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Okay, so the picture is of the print edition of the first two books in my spy thriller series, even though I'm posting this pic because ... ta da! ... since my last newsletter ACX/Audible released the audiobook version of Wet Work for sale at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. Not only is it cool to have both volumes of my spy thriller available in audiobook form, it's especially good news since so many people in the narrating business have been complaining on social media lately about how difficult it is to get through ACX's and Audible's quality control processes and how many months and months and months it seems to take. In my case, Wet Work was approved and on sale about eight weeks after it was submitted by the narrator for approval. You can also find the audio version of Net Impact available at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. If you aren't an Audible subscriber, you can get it free with a 30-day trial of Audible here. (Live elsewhere? Go here: UK, FR, DE.) Similarly, if you aren't an Audible subscriber, you can get Wet Work free with a 30-day trial of Audible here. (Live elsewhere? Use these links: UK, FR, DE.) These sites have a sample of the book you can listen to to try it out. Why not check it out? Check out these promos, too. |
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| | The Three Rs: Reading; Reading; and Reading (A blog from August 15, 2016) I know, I know, many of you out there are writers (or, at least, aspiring writers), so you want to read something about writing, not reading. After all, you've been reading practically all your life, from Dick & Jane to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, to comic books, to Lord of the Rings, to summer beach reads, to Playboy and Cosmo (for the articles, of course!), to the great classics (whether because you had to or you wanted to), to endless work memos, to instruction manuals for Ikea furniture and Christmas bicycles, to trashy guilty-pleasure novels, to blogs, posts, and tweets, to obits. So why am I writing a blog about reading? Because writers need to read. Here's why. Readers make better writers: Would you try your hand at brain surgery without studying up on the topic? Would you book Carnegie Hall without singing in the shower or, at least, watching American Idol? Would you have children without ever having bothered to be one yourself? No. So what makes you think that you can write something people will want to read if you don't read much yourself? You can't understand what makes a good story or book if you haven't bothered to read any--both good and bad. You won't understand anything about grabbing the reader's attention, developing characters, crafting artful prose, conjuring up realistic-sounding dialogue (which actually isn't realistic--it's better than realistic because it leaves out all the boring parts), or dropping subtle clues and foreshadowing in service to a suspenseful and compelling plot, if you don't read. And, while writing can be cinematic, don't think that just watching TV and observing people at the park amounts to the same thing. Those situations have visual and other sensory cues that writing doesn't have unless you find an artful way to add them in. This isn't about trying to mimic someone else's style or making sure you include a checklist of items. We've all been at a picnic or party where one of our neighbors or not-so-close friends mistakes a recitation of facts as a story when it's not a story, it's just something that happened, with no plot arc, twist, social commentary, or compelling action or character development to engage you, as the listener. You need to read to find out what makes a story, what works and what doesn't work in engaging and maintaining your interest. Sure, not everyone is interested in the same things, but unless you know what works for somebody (hey, that's you), it's hard to put together what works for enough people that someone will publish and/or read your story or book. And, trust me, putting together something that works is a whole lot harder than complaining about something that doesn't. Everybody's a critic; not that many people are actually writers. Reading Your Own Work Helps Both It and You: Once you've actually read (both inside and outside your preferred writing genre--you'd be amazed what you can learn about writing from reading in other genres) enough that you've written something you think is passable, the next phase is to read your own work. First, read your latest draft out loud. Doing so will improve your rewriting in several ways. Sure, you'll find some typos and grammatical errors that crept in because your brain automatically reads things you wrote the way you intended--glossing over errors; your mouth won't do that. You'll also find some poorly placed attributions. (E.g., When, as you are reading along aloud, you come to a sentence like "'Come over here right now,' he whispered after dimming the lights." and you read the dialogue in a normal voice, not noticing it was supposed to be whispered until you got to the attribution. Doing that may make you realize that perhaps the sentence should have read. "He dimmed the lights and whispered, 'Come over here right now.'") Reading your material aloud also helps find repeated words, awkward syntax, and long, boring sections. Reading your work aloud is also good practice for reading your work aloud ... in public. Nothing showcases that your work is worth reading like enticing an audience with a snippet that makes them sit up and notice. That means getting over your jitters, working to improve both your enunciation and the emotional resonance of your reading, and taking control of your audience. You can't do that if you have your head down, looking at your draft, as you mutter your way through your work as quickly as possible. If you don't think your work is exciting and compelling and worthy of being heard, why should your audience want to buy it? Read Your Audience: How can you hope to write compellingly for an audience if you never pay attention to their responses to your work? In a public reading you do this by maintaining eye contact and gauging their reactions. Are they bored? Do they lean forward (and not just because they can't hear you)? Do they laugh or smile at the right parts? If not, why not? Do they look confused when they should? Do they look confused when they shouldn't? You can't be sitting over the shoulder of everyone who reads your story or book. It's creepy when they know you're there and breaking and entering when they don't. Reading in public is the closest you can ever get to simulating such stalkerish behavior within the bounds of the law. And, when reading in public isn't available or isn't sufficient (sure, you can read a chapter, but usually not a whole story or book), you need to read the reviews and critiques posted about your writing, and not just the nice ones. (Thanks, Mom!) Sure, you may think some of the critics clueless ignoramuses or unduly harsh or even notorious suck-ups, but some of those reviews and critiques have important things to say, both good and bad. Turn off your defensive tendencies, read the comments, then LET THEM SIT for awhile, and only then come back to them. Choose to let the worthwhile comments guide you and improve your writing. Sure, sometimes critics will disagree with each other. Sometimes they will be wrong. Learning to separate the wheat from the chaff is an important skill for a writer. You might not learn anything valuable from your audience, but if you don't read the reviews, critiques, and comments, you are absolutely guaranteed not to learn anything at all from them. Remember, real estate might be about location, location, location, but writing is all about reading, reading, and reading. And, if you ever become a rich and famous author, contact me. I'd be happy to do a reading with you. Reading in pairs or groups is a great way to expand your potential audience. Just remember, this blog is a fount of wisdom, but the picture above is a font of wisdom. | | |
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| | Bruce Pilkenton, Audible Narrator and Voice Actor Both Linda and I were friends with Bruce from High School. Bruce was a fun guy who worked very hard on doing various voices for impressions. At some point he decided to perfect his Jimmy Stewart impression by doing it all ... and I do mean all ... the time, including insisting on a chair for "Harvey" at the lunch table in the cafeteria. To be honest, it drove all of his friends crazy, so we all decided the best way to show him that was for us all to do a Jimmy Steward impression when talking with him. I swear, at one point, my Jimmy Stewart impersonation was better than his. But, of course, I eventually stopped and for all I know Bruce is still insisting that confused waitresses set an extra plate for a large, invisible rabbit (actually a pooka, but let's not get bogged down with too much detail). So, when I decided to look into getting a narrator a few years back for Net Impact, I contacted Bruce, who I knew had gone on to a career in acting and voice-over work. Just recently he completed the narration for Wet Work, which involved not only doing multiple voices and accents, but a variety of locations and names in Hawaiian and more than a couple choice expletives in Czech. Did I mention that it sailed through ACX's and Audible's quality control process without a single comment or problem? Here's Bruce, with a bio and a few comments on the Wet Work project: Bruce Pilkenton (narrator) is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, N.Y. and holds both BFA and MFA Acting degrees. He spent 10 years as actor and production assistant for Navy Pier Entertainment, and for years was the recorded voice of their famous Ferris Wheel, delivering a history of Chicago's Lakefront as patrons viewed it from high above. He voiced many characters for the popular LEFT BEHIND audio series, and was often heard between innings of Cub games on WGN radio in the Old Style Beer spots. Speaking of both NET IMPACT and WET WORK, he says: " Don Bingle has created wonderful, fun characters to voice! With WET WORK, I have never had more fun voicing any character than I have Acacia (Ace). She is so unique, complex, and 3-dimensional: lithe, sexy and agile, she is a spy who is as quick with her aggressive tongue as she is with her trained fighting skills! It has been a pleasure to bring Don Bingle's characters to life, and the listener will enjoy the constant pace and thrill rides involved in Don's storytelling!" For more info/voice links on Mr. Pilkenton, just go to his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Bruce-Pilkenton-Instinctive-Choices-Character-Voices-172612576123007/?view_public_for=172612576123007 Why I'm Not Upset at ACX, Even Though Many Authors and Narrators Are When you're an author with a social media presence, you join all sorts of groups on Facebook in order to keep track of market trends, to find open calls for stories, and to help promote your writing. Not surprisingly, I belong to groups that deal with Kickstarters, online conventions, open calls, audiobooks, writing groups, book promotions, writing organizations, and the various genres in which I write (thrillers, horror, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, steampunk, gaming, memoir, humor, and more). The audiobook and audio narration people have been all atwitter recently about how unhappy they are with ACX, the production arm of Amazon for Audible and other audiobooks. Many of their complaints have to do with turnaround time between books being submitted and being released to the market. In truth, times are up a bit (mine was closer to eight weeks than the predicted 30 business days, which would be six weeks assuming no holidays). But the real passion behind the complaint has to do with two things. First, a perception that Audible was encouraging listeners to return audiobooks for a credit if unhappy (which then results in a deduction for the previously credited payment for the audiobook when bought). ACX says it was doing this to ensure customer happiness with the books produced (whether audio quality or book quality) and that it was watching to make sure the easy return policy was not being used to rip off authors in bulk by essentially letting bad people download books for free (not that there aren't a boatload of pirate sites that already do that). ACX recently explained its position and promised not to refund books after a certain amount of time, but the complainers seem unsatisfied. I'm not unhappy with ACX and here's why. First, I think much of the bad will against ACX from authors derives from another change made months ago. Until earlier this year, ACX not only gave authors 100 codes for each of their books to use to send out review copies and give away in marketing promotions, they actually paid a sales royalty to authors when such free codes were used, the same as if ACX had actually gotten money for those downloads. So, in round but not preposterous figures, if I gave away 100 free codes and my royalty was typically $10 per copy (it varies by book length and various promotional pricing), ACX would basically give me $1,000 for the privilege of having my book on their platform. That's a fair chunk of change. I think they figured that out, as well as the fact that some authors were undoubtedly gaming that system as best they could. So, back in March or something, they said free codes would no longer result in royalties, which, I'm sorry, sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Second, I think some small-time authors don't really appreciate what a good deal they get from ACX/Audible. (Just like they don't appreciate what a good deal they get from Amazon.) Any author can pen a book and record a narration and, assuming it meets the basics of quality control, get it listed on Amazon and Audible at NO COST to the author (beyond what any author would pay for book covers, editing, and narration services). That book may not sell more than a few copies a week or a month or a year or over its entire lifetime, yet Audible maintains a website to intake such books, inspects the quality of such books, promotes and advertises itself and the books, maintains a website allowing for purchase of such books, deals with internet issues and customer satisfaction for all of the books, and provides monthly reports as to the sales of books, all in addition to actually calculating and paying royalties to the author. Trust me, even amortized over a bunch of authors and books, that's a hefty investment in an author's product--a much bigger investment in money than many authors have made. I'm in the black on my first audiobook, but I don't think there is a chance in hell that Audible is making money off of me yet. (I also get a bit from a few books published by others in which I have stories, but I'm not counting that--not that it would impact the calculation much.) Yes, as a small-time author, I care about every dollar I can make from my writing. But I also appreciate all of those who support me, from my family and friends, to my fans and those willing to try out a new, unknown author, to those who take the time and effort to review my work, to the conventions, libraries, and book fairs which let me sell at their venues, and last, but certainly not least, Amazon, Audible, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, and everyone everywhere who helps me sell my books. Rant completed. Aloha! | | |
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Donald J. Bingle's Streaming Recommendations: Let's face it. It's a pandemic and those of us not having to put up with working from home while we wrangle kids through on-line learning have a bit of extra time for television. That's especially true since the pandemic has made series television both spotty and sometimes a bit bizarre (I'm talking about you, Bull, with your bizarro Corona season opener). While we've bailed on a number of allegedly binge-worthy fare (The Boys; Night Manager; and The Umbrella Academy), I can recommend Queen's Gambit (with the minor caveat that, imho, no quality chess player would suggest bughouse chess to someone about to play in a tournament--it really warps your game). On the movie side, I was underwhelmed by both the live-action version of Mulan on Disney+ and Jingle Jangle on Netflix. I think The Great Wall a few years back had better costumes, better effects, better direction, and a better story than Mulan (plus, the constant and meaningless Phoenix soaring around in Mulan was an annoying Disney Tinkerbell touch). And, in Jingle Jangle, the whole "Beautiful Mind" writing formulas in the air somehow translating into invention skills which end up relying on special mail-order magic sauce and "I believe" Tinkerbell animation and levitation in a stagey production with an insipid plot was enough to make me roll my eyes and wish time would move faster or, maybe, just stop altogether. Yes, I know it was supposed to be whimsical and I am not the target demographic. Call me a curmudgeon; you wouldn't be wrong. |
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Hidden Scrooge, by TD Kohnen A man greedy for power and wealth fails to keep his end of the bargain, and the witch curses him to be disguised as a woman.
Coming soon on December 15, 2020. |
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The Unpopular Sheriff, by Andrew Allan Sheriff Pete's job is to protect the citizens. But, they hate his guts. They think crime is rising. They don’t feel safe. And they’re dead certain Sheriff Pete will never measure up to his legendary lawman father. But now, there’s a mafia assassin lurking in town… He’s on the run from his old crew. And they’re coming to Kansas hell-bent on bloody revenge. The last thing anyone wants is a bunch of mafia psychopaths shooting up their town like it's the Wild West. So, guess whose help the town needs now... Ride along with Kansas law...as Sheriff Pete stands off against his doubters and a murderous mafia in the dusty, deadly plains of the Midwest. This tense, exciting thriller pulls no punches. |
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Donald J. Bingle is the author of six books and more than sixty shorter works in the horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres. His books include Forced Conversion (near future military scifi), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), Frame Shop (murder in a suburban writers' group), and the Dick Thornby spy thriller series (Net Impact; Wet Work, and (soon to come) Flash Drive). He also co-authored (with Jean Rabe) The Love-Haight Case Files (a three-time Silver Falchion winning paranormal urban fantasy about two lawyers who represent the legal rights of supernatural creatures in a magic-filled San Francisco; sequel is in the works). Don also edited Familiar Spirits (an anthology of ghost stories). Many of Don's shorter works can be found in his Writer on Demand TM collections. Full disclosure: Various links in my newsletter or on my website may include Amazon Affiliate coding, which gets me a small referral fee (at no cost to you) if you purchase after clicking through. |
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